Army-gaiter.



No. 673,878. Patented Ma I4 |90! 1 w. LANz. y

ARMY GAITER. (Application med sept. 17, V1900.)

(No Model.)

111; bams msm sa. moamso.. wmnorou, o. c.

FFICE.

WILLIAM LANZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ARlVlY-GAlTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,878, dated May 14, 1901. Application filed September 1'7, 1900. .Serial No. 30,351. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LANZ, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, countyof Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvernents in Army-Gaiters, of which the following is a specication and which are fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The gaiter now in use by the army and militia of the United States is secured by lacing at the outside of the leg. The preferred form of lacing is by means of eyelets in one of the meeting edges and hooks at the other edge. Great annoyance arises from the liability of this lacing and the hooks used in connection with it to catch in grass, Weeds, and underbrush when Worn byinfantrymen, and mounted men are annoyed by the interference of these gaiters when the troop is riding in close rank.

One object of this invention is to overcome the above-mentioned diiiculties by providing at one or both sides of the lacing a shield which will deflect any object against which the leg may Contact and prevent it from com- ,ing into engagement with the lacing or the hooks.

A further object of the invention is to provide for the general improvement of the gaiter, particularly with a View to cheapening and simplifying its construction, by an improved form of foot-strap.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the gaiter. Fig. 2 is a detail section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail elevations showing different forms of lacing.

The body of the gaiter is shown at 10. At 11 is shown a reinforcing-strip applied to the underlapping and at 12 a similar strip applied to the inner face of the overlapping edge. These strips are usually of leather. At 13 are shown a series of eyelets in the overlapping edge and at 14 a series of hooks on the opposite edge. A lace 15 is secured at the bottom of the gaiter and, as shown, passes through two eyelets 16 and 17 at that edge of the body of the gaiter to which the hooks are applied and is then laced in and out of the eyelets 13, additional eyelets being located at the top of the gaiter in order to secure the end. After being thus drawn through the eyelets the gaiter is secured by catching the intermediate loops of the lace over the hooks 14. This is the more common form of lacing and is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Flexible guards or shields for the lacing are shown at 18 19, being located the one immediately back of the hooks 14 and the other immediately back of the eyelets 13 and standing out from the body of the gaiter. These shields are formed by coi-ding the body of the gaiter-that is to say, by so stitching it as to form a tube within which a cord, as 20 and 21, is inclosed. When thus formed, the shield stands ont with sufficient rigidity, so that it effectually guards the lacing from interference with obstacles of an ordinary character. As the wearers leg brushes past an object the latter will be deflected over the lacing and hooks.

The reinforcing-strip 12 is usually of leather. In the present construction I show this strip as being continued downwardly beyond the body of the legging, so as Io form the footstrap 22-that is to say, the reinforcing-strip and the strap are integral, thereby cheapening and simplifying the construction and also placing the strap in a better location than it has heretofore had, as it has been customary to locate the strap forward of the reinforcingstrip in order that the garment might not be made bulky and cumbersome at the bottom of the lacing.

The forms of lacing shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are sometimes practiced, and yielding shields 18 and 19 are applied to this construction equally well as to the form shown in Fig. l. In the form of lacing of Fig. 4, in which the lace is always passed through two adjacent eyelets on the same side, thereby leaving a long exposed vertical loop, the transverse loops being all under the fabric, I find it desirable to place additional shields 23 24 at the eiitreme edges of the garment, thereby forming between the shields 18 and 23 and 19 and 24, respectively, narrow channels within which the lacing is housed. The shields 23 and 24 are formed in the same manner as the shields 18 and 19. When the lacing is thus protected, the wearer is not only saved much annoyance, but the lace is not subject IOO 2. A military gaiter adapted to be secured to the leg of the wearer by lacing, and having adjacent to each of its edges means for the engagement of the lacing, and immediately back of such means longitudinal outstanding shields.

3. A military gaiter adapted to be secured to the leg of the wearer by lacing, and having a series of eyelets adjacent to each of its edges, and an outstanding shield longitudinally disposed along each side of each series of eyelets.

4. A military gaiter adapted to be secured to the leg of the wearer by lacing, and having means adjacent to each of its edges for the engagement of the lace, and being corded longitudinally adjacent to each series of lace-engaging means.

5. A militar-57 gaiter, adapted to be secured to the leg of the wearer by lacing, and having a reinforcing-strip secured along one of its edges and extending downwardly below the body of the gaiter to form a foot-strap.

6. A military gaiter adapted to be secured to the leg of the wearer by lacing, and having adjacent to its edges outstanding yielding shields.

WILLIAM LANZ.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK C. GOODWIN, LoUIs K. GILLsoN. 

